Longitudinal Relationships between Perceived Social Support and Symptom Outcomes: Findings from a sample of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Iris M Steine; Dagfinn Winje; John H Krystal; Anne Marita Milde; Bjørn Bjorvatn; Inger Hilde Nordhus; Janne Grønli; Ståle Pallesen

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104566

Longitudinal Relationships between Perceived Social Support and Symptom Outcomes: Findings from a sample of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Child Abuse Negl. 2020 Sep:107:104566. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104566. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Authors

Iris M Steine¹, Dagfinn Winje², John H Krystal³, Anne Marita Milde⁴, Bjørn Bjorvatn⁵, Inger Hilde Nordhus⁶, Janne Grønli⁷, Ståle Pallesen⁸

Affiliations

¹ UC Berkeley, Department of Psychology, 2121 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704, USA; Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Christiesgate 12, 5015 Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: steine@berkeley.edu.
² Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Christiesgate 12, 5015 Bergen, Norway.
³ Clinical Neuroscience Division, VA National Center for PTSD, 950 Campbell Avenue, West Haven, CT 06516, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
⁴ NORCE AS - Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, Postbox 7810, 5020 Bergen, Norway; Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
⁵ Department of Global Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Kalfarveien 31, 5018 Bergen, Norway; Norwegian Competence Center of Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, PO Box 1400, 5021 Bergen, Norway.
⁶ Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Christiesgate 12, 5015 Bergen, Norway; Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, PO Box 1110, Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway.
⁷ Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Jonas Lies vei 91, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Christiesgate 12, 5015 Bergen, Norway; Norwegian Competence Center of Sleep Disorders, Haukeland University Hospital, PO Box 1400, 5021 Bergen, Norway.

PMID: 32526550
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104566

Abstract

Introduction: Cross-sectional studies have consistently reported an inverse association between perceived social support and the severity of mental health symptoms among adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies investigating the bidirectional association between social support and the severity of symptoms among adult CSA-survivors, as well as the role of relational problems in predicting perceived social support and symptom levels over time. The present study addressed these questions in a sample of primarily female CSA-survivors.

Methods: In a three-wave, four-year longitudinal study of 506 CSA-survivors (94.9% women, 5.1% men) recruited from support centers for sexual abuse survivors in Norway, we used cross-lagged panel structural equation modeling to examine the directionality of the longitudinal associations between perceived social support and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia.

Results: Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed significant weak reciprocal associations between perceived social support and depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms and anxiety symptoms, but not with insomnia symptoms. The observed effects were partly overlapping and partly inconsistent across the different symptom domains. Relational problems predicted social support cross-sectionally and longitudinally, whereas only cross-sectional associations were found between the relational problems variable and mental health symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed, alongside methodological limitations of the study.

Keywords: Childhood sexual abuse; lcross-lagged panel analysis; longitudina; perceived social support; relational problems.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / psychology*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Social Support*